Work Text:
Four months.
That was the first thought he had when he opened his eyes that morning, blinking in the bright sunlight that was streaming through the window of their Stark Tower apartment. Four months since Bucky’s bed had begun gathering dust in the guest room, while the left side of his bed was finally put to good use. Four months since Pepper’s birthday, four months since the dance and the kiss that basically “broke the internet, or at least tumblr”, as Tony told him (he had no idea what that really meant, or if it was even possible, so he had just nodded and tried to look concerned). He peaked through squinted eyes at Bucky’s sprawled form next to him, face buried half under his pillow in an unconscious attempt to escape the sunrise. God…four months…it had felt like four days. He sighed deeply, but the breath came out sounding like a wheeze.
Thank god for super serum.
That was the second thought that ran through his head, when he realised he’d woken up because Bucky had flung his metal arm haphazardly across his chest in his sleep. If it was heavy enough to rouse him now, he could only guess what would have happened before the serum. Then again, without the serum there would be no metal arm or Bucky sleeping on the left side of his bed or the sunrise through Stark Tower or the four months of what the Avengers were terming ‘marital bliss’. Bucky would be dead, or worse, in Arnim Zola’s lab, strapped to a table, being dissected and monitored and - Yes, thank god for the super serum.
But really, sleep-warm and cute as the gesture was, the arm was getting a little heavy, and Steve knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep now that the sun had risen. He shifted the arm off of his chest as slowly as he could, but he wasn’t the only super soldier in this relationship, and a very cognizant (but sleepy) voice muttered from below the pillow “You better not be leaving me alone in this bed, soldier.” as the arm coiled around his middle and tugged him back under the sheets. Steve contemplated simply not getting up for the rest of the day (tempting, so very tempting) but decided against it.
“C’mon Bucky, we gotta start the day eventually.”
A huff that meant ‘who said?’
“You could get up too, you know.”
A snort that meant ‘not likely’
“I’ll make eggs in a basket for you.”
A hum that meant ‘keep talking…’
“And then after breakfast, we can take a shower together.”
“Get outta bed, Steve. Lazy. Don’t you have to save the world or something? Jeez…you’re like a limpet.” Bucky muttered, loosening his death grip and pushing Steve over the edge of the bed with his feet.
Steve just chuckled and got up, tightening the drawstrings in his sweatpants that had gotten loose in his sleep, as he walked to the kitchen. He fished in the fridge for their remaining loaf of white bread. Bucky didn’t like whole-wheat…it reminded him too much of when they were poor and could only afford stale whole-wheat bricks, while the ritzy folk ate white bread. ‘The healthier option’ didn’t matter when the taste reminded him of despair. Bucky’s IPod was still docked in the kitchen (at this point it was their shared IPod, because Steve had put his down somewhere in the apartment 5 months ago and hadn’t thought to look for it since) so he hit play from wherever it left off and got started cutting even holes in the bread.
He was halfway through his tenth egg-in-a-basket (Bucky and his metabolisms demanded as such) when he felt arms wrap around his waist slowly, and a rumbling vibrate through his back from the warm (and bare) chest pressed warmly against him. He could hear the soft words to the song playing at that moment from over his shoulder; it was interspersed randomly with humming from where Bucky felt there was better uses for his mouth than singing, such as pressing them against Steve’s ear or neck. “My prayer is to linger with you at the end hmm hmhmm…hmm hmm divine…my prayer is a rapture blue...with a world far away and your lips hmm hmm mine…Stevie, you should kiss me.” Steve chuckled and flipped the bread and egg in the pan, listening to it simmer.
“I will, Buck. Once I’m done with this piece.”
“Hmmph…is that the last one?”
“Yup.”
That silenced Bucky for all of 3 seconds, before he started swaying his hips from side to side to the beat of the music. Considering that they were pressed snugly against Steve’s own hips, Steve started swaying as well. Steve couldn’t help but grin at the coercing that was sure to follow.
“Stevie, you should dance with me.”
“I think I’m sorta doing that already, Buck.”
“Nah, you should let me see that gorgeous face and dance with me proper.”
“Well you should let me put this on a plate before it burns.”
“Tonight while our hearts are aglow…” God, that baritone. Steve bit his lip and steeled his resolve. He would not budge.
“That’s not gonna work this time.”
Bucky pressed closer and whispered gently, “Tell me the words that I’m longing to know…”
Nope.
“Dammit, Buck.” Steve shovelled the piece of bread and egg into the serving plate nearby and turned the stove off before facing Bucky quickly, who was laughing with a smug little smirk and outstretched arms. Damn this man. He had a witty retort on the tip of his tongue about patience or something but he was soon pulled into Bucky’s dance.
All annoyance was forgotten, because Steve was a schmuck who couldn’t hold anything against Bucky for long, and soon he was just letting Bucky move him while he rested his forehead against the man’s bare shoulder, getting lost in the warmth of the moment that seemed to last forever. The song must have ended at some point, though, and it took Steve a moment to realise they were standing still and had been doing so for a while. They were basically just hugging in the middle of the kitchen, and Steve wasn’t sure he wanted to stop any time soon. Bucky seemed to concur, seeing as he wasn’t moving either. Steve wondered if the moment could get any sweeter, any warmer….
That is, until Jarvis’ voice chimed overhead; “I hate to interrupt, but it would appear that Master Stark has demanded the presence of ‘Captain America and Bucky Barnes, boy wonder’ for his impromptu Skype interview with the President of Venezuela. Miss Potts would greatly appreciate it if you would both proceed to the level 15 lab, if only to convince Master Stark that an impromptu meeting with a President concerning international security is never a good idea.”
“Well, there goes the peaceful morning.” Steve sighed, slowly (reluctantly) detaching himself from Bucky’s arms. Bucky chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, pulling it back behind his ear when he knew it would just tumble over again in a few seconds. “I don’t think ‘peaceful’ is our style anyways, Stevie. Now, how about you eat and I take a shower, all alone and lonely, just to make sure we don’t end up doing something in the shower and miss out on Tony selling the Avengers to Venezuela.” “Well, that’s mighty selfless of you.” Steve laughed in surprise, but agreed with the plan.
As Steve munched on his half of the breakfast he’d made, Bucky ambled into their bedroom to take a shower. He hesitated near the closet, thinking for a second before opening it and looking for his second favourite jacket hanging near the back of the closet. Patting the pockets quickly just to be sure everything was in place, he pulled out a small black box and popped open the lid, looking at the two identical gleaming gold bands sitting within. He wasn’t going to be showing Steve this any time soon, though a part of him really wanted to, was already sure that there would be no one else but Steve in his life. For now, it was just encouragement, something to remind him of his end goal. He was playing for keeps.
Putting the box back where it belonged, he headed into the shower (alone, damn that idiot Stark) humming under his breath…“For as long as we live, that you'll always be there at the end of my prayer…”